Chamba-Chowari tunnel beneath Jot Pass can save trees: NGO chief

Our Correspondent

Chamba, June 27

Founder and president of the Himalaya Bachao Samiti Kulbhushan Upmanyu has pleaded for giving priority to the construction of the Chamba-Chowari tunnel beneath the Jot Pass, which could save felling of trees while constructing the Draman-Chamba-Pangi national highway.

Upmanyu thanked Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari for according the approval to the Draman-Chamba-Pangi national highway about three years ago.

Upmanyu said due to the construction of the highway from Chowari to Chamba, a number of green trees would face axe.Therefore, to save ecology, the tunnel was the alternative, Upmanyu said.

Moreover, it would be the shortest route to Ladakh if another tunnel was constructed at Chehni that would link Pangi, Upmanyu said.